Council common sense

Nov 29 2010

No traffic ‘master plan,’ no multi-million pound ‘solution’ that spends taxpayers’ money on unwanted transport schemes, just a little bit of common sense. A B&NES council official announced plans to shift a bus stop along the London Road to allow two lanes of traffic to flow through traffic lights into a supermarket, thus averting traffic jams and keeping local transport moving. It might seem a small issue, but if such inexpensive decisions were made on numerous matters of local concern, we really wouldn’t need the grandiose, hideously expensive proposals usually preferred by Bath bureaucrats and their supporters.

On the other side, however, Bath Spa University continues to push ahead with plans for spending £60 million on a projected facelift. “With the prospect of higher tuition fees just around the corner,” says their vice-chancellor, “we need to make absolutely sure that the university experience we provide our students is of the highest quality.” Hmm, yet another public sector manager arguing that the best way of dealing with the current economic crisis is to keep on spending our money. Maybe the students would prefer lower fees and keep the existing adequate buildings?

A separate application has been put forward for a new university energy centre using biomass fuel in order to reduce its carbon footprint. Its carbon footprint would be a lot smaller if it didn’t keep constructing extravagant new buildings on our beautiful countryside...

Tim Newark, Bath TaxPayers’ AllianceNo traffic ‘master plan,’ no multi-million pound ‘solution’ that spends taxpayers’ money on unwanted transport schemes, just a little bit of common sense. A B&NES council official announced plans to shift a bus stop along the London Road to allow two lanes of traffic to flow through traffic lights into a supermarket, thus averting traffic jams and keeping local transport moving. It might seem a small issue, but if such inexpensive decisions were made on numerous matters of local concern, we really wouldn’t need the grandiose, hideously expensive proposals usually preferred by Bath bureaucrats and their supporters.

On the other side, however, Bath Spa University continues to push ahead with plans for spending £60 million on a projected facelift. “With the prospect of higher tuition fees just around the corner,” says their vice-chancellor, “we need to make absolutely sure that the university experience we provide our students is of the highest quality.” Hmm, yet another public sector manager arguing that the best way of dealing with the current economic crisis is to keep on spending our money. Maybe the students would prefer lower fees and keep the existing adequate buildings?

A separate application has been put forward for a new university energy centre using biomass fuel in order to reduce its carbon footprint. Its carbon footprint would be a lot smaller if it didn’t keep constructing extravagant new buildings on our beautiful countryside...